Sunday, April 4, 2010

The Oracle of Dating by Allison van Diepen

SynopsisFor five bucks, the Oracle of Dating will tell you:* How to flirt

* If that cute guy you're crushing on likes you, too

* Whether your new romance will last through lunch period

* And much more

What she won't tell you? Who she is.

No one at Kayla's school knows she's the famous Oracle of Dating— the anonymous queen of dating advice. She doesn't even have a boyfriend. Two relationship disasters were enough to make Kayla focus on everyone else's love life.

But then her advice backfires on her own best friend. And Kayla starts to seriously obsess about Jared Stewart—the very cute, very mysterious new guy in school. Suddenly, the teen queen of advice needs her own oracle of dating—and she knows just where to find one….

ReviewThe Oracle of Dating was very cute. It's informative with lots of crucial teen dating advice mixed with a romantic story-line. It's very fresh in its references to Facebook, blogging and Paypal, among other things.

I am not the target audience for The Oracle of Dating. I'm too old, which was obvious when I saw ROTFLOL and it jolted me right out of the story. Of course, this is a young adult book specifically for teens who wouldn't bat an eyelash at chat-like acronyms and other things I am not hip enough to embrace. More than likely, the inclusion of these trendy things will make the book that much easier to relate to.

There was some underage drinking in The Oracle of Dating, along with some focus on the subject of sex (without any actual sex taking place.) Yet, this is a book I would love my daughters to read. This book has an honest and realistic view of sex as it relates to both teens and adults and its message is clearly beneficial to teens. Think He's Just Not That Into You, fictionalized and written for the younger generations.